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LONDON — Scientists have derided recent research that suggests ear acupuncture might help people
lose weight, saying the study’s design was flawed and its conclusions implausible.

Responding to the research published online this month in the journal
Acupuncture in Medicine, experts not involved in the work said ear acupuncture is
unreliable and probably a waste of money.

“It is hard to think of a treatment that is less plausible than ear acupuncture,” said Edzard
Ernst, a professor of complementary medicine at Britain’s University of Exeter.

A summary of the study, conducted by Korean researchers, said it compared three approaches in a
total of 91 people — acupuncture on five points on the outer ear, acupuncture on one point and a
sham treatment as a control.

It said participants were asked to follow a restrictive diet, but not one designed to lead to
weight loss, and not to take any extra exercise during eight weeks of treatment.

Its results indicated significant differences were apparent after four weeks, with the
acupuncture-treatment groups having lower body-mass-index scores compared with the sham treatment
group, where there was no such reduction.

Weight also differed significantly after four weeks in both active treatment groups compared
with the sham group, the researchers reported.

The journal said auricular acupuncture therapy is based on the understanding that the outer ear
represents all parts of the body. It was first used in France in 1956 by a doctor who noticed that
a patient’s back-ache was cured after a burn on the ear.

But external experts said the latest research and its conclusions should be viewed with
caution.

“While it’s good to see attempts to evaluate so-called alternative treatments using the same
approach as is used for more conventional treatments, this study has several features that
complicate the picture,” said Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at Open University
in Great Britain.

He noted that more than a third of the study’s participants did not complete the course, and yet
the results did not take this into account.

“The study lasted only eight weeks, which is not long when it comes to a long-term issue like
being overweight,” he said.

In agreeing, Ernst said: “Consulting an acupuncturist will reduce your cash but not your body
weight.”